Foot pedal piano accordion



Oct. 18, 1932. Is. SATER 1,882,960

FOOT PEDAL PIANO AOCORDION Filed Aug. 1, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l WITNESSESATTORN EY Oct. 18, 1932. s, SATER 1,882,960

FOOT PEDAL PIANO ACCORDION Filed Aug. 1, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2WlTN/ESSES mvENrbR 5141/. fla 1 522?- ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 18, 1932PATENT OFFICE SAMUEL SATER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOOT PEDAL PIANO ACCORDION Application filed August 1, 1931. Serial in.554,532.

This invention relates to musical instru-' ments and particularly to animproved foot pedal piano accordion, the object being to provide anarrangement utilizing an accordion structure while presenting one ormore pedals and a rectangular keyboard in one or more planes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a foot pedal pianoaccordion which includes members for producing musical sounds and acasing acting in a double capacity as a container and as a stand.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a front view of a foot pedalaccordion disclosing an embodiment of the invention, the same beingassembled and ready for use.

Figure 2 is a erspective view of the structure shown in igure 1 whenknocked down and folded into a package.

Figure 3 is a sectional view through Figure 1 on line 3-3, the samebeing on an enlar ed scale.

eferring to the accompanying drawings by numerals, 1 indicates thebodyof the container, said body being preferably rectangular andprovided with sides 2 and 3, a bottom 4 and back 5, all being rigidlyconnected together. The front is preferably formed by two doors 6 and 7,though if desired one door could be used. Doors 6 and 7 could beconnected to the respective sides 2 and 3 by suitable hin es and areadapted to be swung shut and Ice ed in the closed position by suitablestraps 8 and 9 and also by the flap 10 carried by the top 11, which topis hingedly connected to the back 5 by one or more hinges 12. One ormore snap fasteners 13 are used for connectinlg the flap 10 to the doorsas illustrated in igure 2. The body 1 forms a casing or container which,when folded, presents a-shape somewhat resembling an ordinary suitcase.A hand grip 14 is connected to end 2 so that the device may be readilycarried. When the parts are folded as shown in Figure -2, the variousmembers forming the musical section are stored in a container. When thedevice is to be used, straps 8 and 9 are loosened and preferablyremoved, and the doors 6 and 7 swung open to the position shown inFigure 1. The bars 15 arebolted or otherwise secured at 16 to bottom 4,said bar having hinges 17 whereby the pedals 18 are connected therewith.If desired, one or more than two pedals could be used, and also ifdesired, each pedal could have a separate bar 15. However, for mostpurposes, a double pedal is suflicient.

The upper end of the pedals 18 are provided with apertures 19 foraccommodatin the straps 20, which straps extend through suitable cleats21 and 22 secured in any desired manner to the end 23 of the bellows 24.Bellows 24 is preferably of the usual type of bellows found inaccordions, said bellows at the upper end, as shown in Figuresl and 3,

being connected to the frame 25 which is glued or otherwise rigidlysecured'to a hous ing 26 forming an air chamber 27. This housing orframe is secured by straps or brackets 28 and 29 to a casing 30, whichhas a keyboard 31 having the usual white and black keys commonly foundon a piano. Springs or other suitable means 32 may be used to normallyhold the keys in the upper position whereby the valves 33 and 34 may beheld closed, said valves being connected by suitable bars 35 to therespective white and black keys. The valves 33 and 34 are ada ted toclose the openings 36 and 37 leading rom the reed housings 38 and 39.These housings carry suitable reeds which may be of a single or doubletype as desired. The reeds in these housings are arranged so that somewill operate as the bellows 24 is distended and some will operate as thebellows 24 is collapsed, thus giving an accordion effect when the artsare actuated and keys 31 are caused to f tion.

A pair of springs 40 and 41 are connected to frame 25 by suitable screws42 and 43 and to the bottom 23 by screws 42 and 43 whereby when theoperator pushes down pedals 18, the bellows 24 will be distended andwhen the pedals are released, the springs 40 and 41 will move thebellows back to a collapsed position. This will cause air to be drawnback and forth through the respective reed housings 38 and 39 foractuating the respective reeds according to the particular keysdepressed. In the ordinary accordion now in use, the operator cannotconveniently see the keyboard of one hand, whereas in the constructionshown in the accompanying drawings, the entire keyboard may be seen andactuated with one or both hands in the usual way while the edals 18 andsprings and 41 function. T e device may be operated by one foot and theoperator may stand on the other foot if desired or the operator may havea seat and operate the device from a seated position. This arrangementsecures the accordion efltect desired, while presenting aconstructionwhich may be easily carried in a suitcase like container as shown inFigure 2.

In organizations known as entertainers, it is desirable to havedifferent musical instruments including an accordion and the usual largeaccordion is comparatively heavy to transport by a single person andalso comparatively heavy to support by a strap around the neck which isthe usual procedure. In the present invention, a large accordion effectmay be secured without necessitating the operator supporting the deviceduring the playing operation.

When it is desired to fold up the parts, the

j screws 44 in the respective brackets 45 are re moved and the devicemay then readily be moved to a position in the container or body 1.Before this is done, preferably the strap 20 is removed and theconnecting bolt 16 is also removed. When these various parts have beenremoved, the entire device may be stored in the body 1 and the housingadjusted said housing, and a casing connected with said frame, thecasing being provided with keys presenting a keyboard, valves actuatedby sa d keys and an accordion reed housing provided with reeds extendinginto said first mentioned housing and into free communica tion with saidbellows, said reeds being arranged in groups so that one group will facein one direction and the other group will face in the oppositedirection, one group being adapted to function as the bellows move theair in one direction and the other group adapted to function as thebellows move the air in the opposite direction whereby when said pedaland said elastic members are actuated music may be produced bydepressing the proper keys in the proper time and sequence.

2. A foot pedal piano accordion including a body acting as a containerwhen the parts are folded and as a stand when the arts are unfolded, ahousing rigidly secure to said body, a bellows connected with saidhousing and positioned to be in free communication therewith, resilientmembers actin to normally hold the bellows collapsed, a oot pedal actingto distend the bellows, a casing mounted on said housing, said casingbemg provi ded with a plurality of passageways, a plurality of reedhousings carrying reeds connected with said casing and covering saidpassageways, some of said reeds facing in one direction while the othersface in the opposite direction so that some of the reeds will functionas the bellows move the air in one direction and the other reeds willfunction as the bellows move the air in the opposite direction, aplurality of valves, said valves normally covering said respectiveassageways and acting to normally shut o the air when the air is movingin either direction and a keyboard carried by said casing, said keyboardhaving the respective keys connected with the respective valves.

3. A foot pedal piano accordion including a keyboard having the usualblack and white keys, a plurality of sets of reeds acting in opposite drections, means forming an air passageway extending past said reeds, avalve carried by each key of said keyboard positioned to close therespective passageways, a bellows for causing air to move back and forththrough said passageways, resilient means for causng the bellows toautomatically collapse when released, and a foot 0 erated pedalconnected at one end of the ellows for causing'the same to be distendedwhen the pedal is actuated.

' SAMUEL SATER.

